22 August 2012

LINK UPDATE:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9494838/Restoration-nightmare-Spanish-pensioner-says-she-needed-more-time-to-finish-fresco-repair.html Officials say a woman parishoner well in her 80's...had the best intentions. Now...octogenarian Cecelia Gimenez says the parish priest gave her approval...and she didn't even finish her job. But...Gimenez's attempt to restore a more than 100 year old fresco of Jesus Christ...went terribly wrong. The largely unknown fresco called 'Ecce Homo'/Behold Man'...in the sanctuary of the Mercy Church in Borja near Zaragoza...was deteriorating badly from moisture...so the untrained woman tried to restore the popular work.According to a BBC reporter...the once dignified portrait of Christ done by a minor local artist Elias Garcia Martinez...'now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic.' Some wags are now calling it "Ecce Mono"...'Behold the Monkey.' Church officials hope they can undo the terrible restoration. If not...they will hang a foto of the fresco over it. However...there is an online petition signed by over 6,000 asking the church to keep the new fresco...just the way it is. ORIG POST:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19349921